


stay out (or never leave at all)

by petroltogo



Category: Captain America (Movies), Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Angst, Canon Divergence - Avengers: Age of Ultron (Movie), Fallout, Gen, Mind Manipulation, Not as AU as I'd like unfortunately, Open communication is a myth, Self-Hatred, The Maximoffs need each other, Tony Stark Needs a Hug, Wanda tries to fix things, mind magic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-19
Updated: 2018-04-19
Packaged: 2019-04-25 03:37:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,195
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14370081
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/petroltogo/pseuds/petroltogo
Summary: "Here’s a thing most people don’t know about Wanda Maximoff: She doesn’t hate Tony Stark."An alternative interpretation of Wanda's powers and the consequences invading another's mind inevitably brings. Because getting 'in' has never been the problem.





	stay out (or never leave at all)

Here’s a thing most people don’t know about Wanda Maximoff: She doesn’t hate Tony Stark.

Oh, she puts on a good show. She snarks and she glares and she crosses lines like they’re guesses for a round of  _Sinking ships_ , and she’s still searching for the correct location. But that's all it is, in the end. A show. One she continues because it's easy, because it's convenient, because she desperately needs an outlet for the emotions churning inside her. This seems as good as any other option.

Pietro knows, of course. Wanda would have told him the first chance she got, but he'd already figured it out by then. Her brother has always been better at understanding what she's feeling. Besides it's not like they have secrets from each other.

They might not be the same person, but they _are_ in all the ways that matter. It’s why Pietro doesn’t stop her either. Why he leans back and enjoys the show, even though he knows better than to buy what she’s selling.

Stark lets her get away with it like Wanda knew he would. So do the others, which is something she can’t figure out quite as easily. There's a lot going on beneath the surface with this group that she doesn't understand yet.

The thing is, Wanda knows sooner or later she’ll have to get a grip on it. Should have already gotten it over with, truth be told. But that's easier said then done because building mental walls need time to be raised and strengthened. They need time to harden, to stabilise around themselves, to stand tall all on their own. And after she spent her first fight against the Avengers tearing theirs to shreds, it’s going to take a lot of time.

Until then, the lingering resentment is going to keep catching Wanda unaware at the most inconvenient of times. A heavy cloak of guilt and regret will wrap itself around her shoulders and force the air out of her lungs every time she lets her guard down. Helpless rage and festering bitterness keep interfering with the artificial state of calm Pietro helps her to recreate again and again.

Wanda could tell them, of course. About the lines between _them_ and _her_ , that get blurred a little too often to be comfortable. About the roads that once paved can't just be blocked off again. But every time they told Stucker anything of worth, it ended badly for them, so neither Pietro nor Wanda consider it.

It, inevitably, blows up in their faces.

Wanda is sitting in an armchair, her grip on the armrest so tight, the fabric is starting to tear under her nails. She's aware that she should let go, but if she did, she’d walk across the room towards Stark and— Wanda doesn’t know what she’d do then, but it wouldn’t be anything good.

“Goddamn it, Tony!” Rogers snarls furiously and launches himself at Tony. Before Steve reaches him though, Pietro is there, appears right in front of him out of nowhere, holding him back.

Pietro's eyes when he stares at Tony glimmer with hatred — and that’s wrong, wrong, wrong, because Pietro is the breeze to her fire, and he may fan the flames but he never ignites them — but his voice, when he speaks, is eerily calm.

“You’re projecting, sister,” Pietro says, his stillness providing the focus she needs to get a hold of the raging  _hatreddisgustshameworthlessness_  and cage it in again. Force it into submission. Keep it on the lockdown, where it belongs.

Almost immediately the aggression seeps out of Rogers’ posture and he blinks. Confused, maybe even horrified.

Romanoff is there too, a blank look on her face that Wanda can’t read at all, as she asks without inflection, “That’s what you feel for Stark?”

Wanda opens her mouth, searches for the words to explain. But when she turns her head, Tony has already whirled around and escaped the room, taking the thick, choking cloud of  _hatreddisgustshameworthlessness_ with him, and she knows what she says won't make a lick of difference now.

“You really do hate him,” Barton says, and he sounds almost impressed.

“No,” Wanda denies, but doesn’t bother to elaborate. “I don’t.”

*

“You should tell him,” Pietro mutters later that night into the darkness surrounding them.

“I can’t.” Wanda closes her eyes. It feels suspiciously like admitting defeat, but with only Pietro as her witness, Wanda can live with that. “Can’t get close enough without–” She makes a loose, all-encompassing gesture. Knows that Pietro already knows that, just wants her to say it out loud, because that’s the way he likes it. “You?”

“If you want something, you’ll have to ask, sister.” It’s too dark to make his expression out, but Wanda knows her brother is smiling smirk-y sweet at her. Just like she knows Pietro knows she’s rolling her eyes at him.

“Will you do it?” Wanda clarifies anyways. “Talk to him?”

Pietro sighs, like she’s demanding the world and he’s reluctantly handing it over. “Anything you want, sister,” he murmurs anyways, like Wanda knew he would. His arms around her tighten. “Tomorrow we fight, and afterwards I’m gonna have a chat with Stark.”

There’s still some resentment lingering in his voice, but it’s lessening by the day. Wanda knows Pietro is working on it, pushing through his issues with Tony as fast as he can, doing his best to get rid off the last traces of the hatred they once carried. And no matter how deep the roots reach these days, Wanda has no doubt he'll diligently dig out every single one of them. Because that’s what Pietro does for her.

That’s what they do for each other.

“Tomorrow,” Wanda agrees, and smiles.

*

Here’s another thing most people don’t know about Wanda Maximoff: She never meant to get into Tony Stark’s head.

Because once upon a time Wanda did hate Tony Stark. And the problem for her has never been getting into someone else's head. It’s always been getting  _out_  again. The thing is, you can’t hate what you understand. And even just a peek, no single moment in time, a glimpse at his deepest fears and regrets, gives Wanda too much insight into Tony Stark’s core to remain unchanged on the matter.

That’s why she never meant to get into his head. That’s why she knew the game would change the moment she lost her composure and did it anyways.

Pietro wasn’t too happy with her either, but they’re almost the same in ways that go beyond their shared genetics, and what Wanda feels will, sooner or later, carry over to him as well. It’s how they work.

The problem is that she tore down Tony Stark’s walls. The problem is that nobody hates Tony Stark like he hates himself. The problem is that she can’t stay  _out_.

 

(The problem is just because Wanda broke it doesn't mean she knows how to fix it. But she knows Pietro and her will figure it out. It might take time, but they are in no hurry. First, they'll beat Ultron. After that, they’ll have all the time in the world.)

(They do. They don't.)

**Author's Note:**

> Another piece on Wanda, courtesy of the last bitter fic I wrote and a prompt from @thunder-the-wolf on tumblr. It doesn't fit the #bitter Sunday theme, so I decided to leave it as a stand alone. And no, you're not imagining the doomsday-is-approaching tone near the end.
> 
> What do you think of this take on Wanda's powers? I'd love to hear your thoughts. Hope you're all doing well!
> 
>  
> 
> You can find my tumblr here: [tonystarktogo](http://tonystarktogo.tumblr.com/).


End file.
